Tag Archives: vintage books

The first time Britt saw the girl in the tight, thin dress he knew damn well he was going to have her, or go to hell trying. But he hadn’t reckoned then on the girl’s husband, a sadistic runt of a guy who’d smash in a man’s skull as happily as blink at him. He hadn’t reckoned on Newt, the lecherous, broken man who couldn’t bear to see other men whole. Worst of all he hadn’t reckoned on Ruby, the two-bit floozy who knew every conniving trick of her trade.

By the time he discovered the trap these people were building for themselves – and for him – it was too late, way too late, to get out…

Copyright 1951 by Jack Sheridan. Third Printing, November 1959.

In celebration of the glorious British summer we’ve been having this year, here’s my Gold Medal contribution. I love this cover – as dramatic and storm-tossed as any I’ve seen.

The editor of a monthly crime and detective magazine assigns to two of his staff writers, Sladen and Low, the investigation of the strange disappearance of an unknown showgirl. The disappearance was reported fourteen months earlier, but the trail is cold. The police, with nothing to work on, have lost interest. The assignment doesn’t look hopeful.

However, the investigators start asking questions and almost immediately things begin to happen. Witnesses are murdered, an attempt is made to do away with the investigators. The police once more open the case. The disappearance of the showgirl is found to be only a minor part of a ruthless plot.

Safer Dead has the authentic James Hadley Chase touch, which has deservedly earned him the title ‘Master of the Art of Deception’. It moves with the pace and power of forked lightening.

Robert Hale Ltd. Made and printed in Great Britain by John Gardner (Printers) Ltd. First published 1954. This edition reprinted December 1956.

Another gorgeous James Hadley Chase paperback to compliment I’ll Bury My Dead, included in an earlier post. This cover is illustrated by James Pollack who did the cover on Harley Street Hypnotist, below.

How do you hypnotize a patient? How are mental and emotional problems solved by hypnosis?

This quite remarkable and dramatic book debunks the myths attached to the science – for instance that people can be hypnotized against their will, or if hypnotized can be made to perform actions inconsistent with their character.

It tells of the remarkable use of hypnosis in relieving pain during childbirth, so that now the Ministry of Health has ruled that doctors using hypnosis on such occasions may receive the same fee as an anaesthetist…

This one’s for all you budding Peter Powers out there – I must say, I love the cover art on this one.

We’re dusting down our unholy grimoires and wormy tomes in preparation for 2012’s first FRIGHTEN BRIGHTONat the Rock Inn this February.

Last year’s Frighten Brighton was a great success and this one promises to be another fun-filled, horror fuelled event – with more films, quizzes, giveaways, book signings and even a ghost story in the haunted basement.

Brighton’s very own Macabre Market will be onsite, featuring loads of stalls selling a variety of horror-themed loveliness, so please pop by to our very own House of Secrets stall to say hi! And of course, we promise to bring lots of great classic horror books for your delight and delectation!

The event starts at 12pm Saturday 25th February. Tickets are £6 for the double bill starting at 5pm – everything else, including the 2pm screening of Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell – is free!

It began in Union City when they brought in the man who screamed before he died, his flesh a mottled gray. Then it spread. The disease hit South Bend. Then Chicago. Men dying. Their skin a lead gray, their lips browned, and screams tearing their way up through throats that leaked blood. Always men. Never women.

And then it was all so fantastically clear. Men were being exterminated, and a master race of haploid women were going to rule the world. And nobody could stop them.

Copyright 1952 Jerry Sohl. First Lion Edition January 1953.

Dedicated to Dr Wayne Wantland, who created the first Haploid.

And nobody could stop them…. Well, my money’s on Travis, the hardbitten news-man laid up in Union City hospital the night they brought the first haploid victim in. Maybe it was the horrible death he just witnessed or the oh-so peachy blonde with a syringe seen skulking around the dead guy’s room, but his curiosity has been aroused and he’s not letting go.

I started reading this on Sunday and I must say, I’m enjoying the ride! I haven’t quite found out who or what Haploids are yet, though there are some useful pointers on the inside cover –